The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to mounting electronic components and, more particularly, to apparatus and systems for mounting multiple electronic components to a printed wiring board.
Many known electronic devices have printed circuit assemblies (PCAs) that include one or more printed wiring boards (PWBs) or printed circuit boards (PCBs) with a plurality of electronic components attached to the PWBs or PCBs. For example, PCAs are used in computers, power supplies, inverters, and many other types of electronic devices. Traditional placement of large axial through-hole components, e.g., resistors, fuses, and the like, can occupy significant planar PCB space, while wasting Z-direction space. One way to reduce wasted z-direction space is to stack the components, thereby reducing the usage X-Y space. This method, however, requires hand soldering the components when they are to be stacked individually.
When multiple components are hand stacked and soldered, the mechanical integrity of the assembly may be compromised. In some known electronic devices, the stacked components require the use of secondary mechanical support, such as the use of adhesives. The hand-stacked components must be able to withstand physical abuse while remaining electrically isolated from each other.